“I hear where you’re coming from. But…”
“There’s no buts, Ma. I’m not doing it.”
“And if she decides to beat you to it?”
“She won’t be around long enough to have the first visit.” I checked my watch and saw that it was getting late. I had to catch the Edible Arrangements store before it closed. “I’ma take him home tonight. EJ, go get your shoes.” Folding the picture up, I put it in my pocket.
He slid down off the couch and ran to the back.
“I love you, son.” She patted my back.
“I love you too, Ma.”
After putting on EJ’s shoes and coat, we headed outside. The air was cooler than it had been when I arrived. I strapped EJ into his car seat, shut the door, and paused for a second before walking around to the driver’s side.
My son had given Thyri a title that she’d obviously been living up to in this short time. I had a choice to make. I could treat it like it was something casual or move like it was becoming permanent. Seeing as anything I put my time and energy into always worked out in the end, I was choosing the latter.
CHAPTER 15
Galentine’s Day Surprise
THYRI
Danae and I stood in line at Auntie Anne’s pretzel stand like we didn’t already know the menu by heart. I was currently having an internal debate on whether I should go salted or have cinnamon sugar on my pretzel. We’d been walking around the mall, in and out of stores non-stop, and my stomach was touching my back. While Danae stood tall beside me like she hadn’t been powerwalking the whole time, my feet were politely asking for downtime.
“Next in line,” the girl behind the counter called to us.
Danae ordered first. “I’ll take two originals. What you getting, Thyri? I’ll cover it.”
“I’ll have two cinnamon sugars with extra icing.”
“Ooop, not you tryna splurge on my dime,” she said. “Charge the extra icing separately please.” Danae went in her wallet to pull out cash.
“I’m sorry,” the girl stated, confused.
Danae laughed. “I’m just joking, boo. Ring it all up.”
She paid, and we were handed our pretzels. I slipped a five-dollar bill into the tip jar before we walked off to the food court to sit down. The smell of butter and sugar wafted up my nose asI tore through the packaging. I was all too happy to devour the pretzel, no drink needed.
“Okay,” Danae said, biting into her pretzel. “We came in here to get an outfit for tonight and matching pajamas for Saturday night. Explain to me again how we ended up with all this?”
She pointed to the bags that sat on the side of us.
“I don’t know,” I replied, chewing. “I didn’t go nearly as hard as you.”
She counted my bags out loud and shook her head. “Survey says, you a baldhead lie. I have six bags; you have five.”
“Exactly. One bag more than me.” I smirked and chewed, watching people walk past with their bags full of impulse buys just like us.
“What’s up with KJ?” she asked.
“He had his first cleaning assignment today. Enzo said he did good. Listened and didn’t give anybody a hard time.”
She nodded approvingly. “That’s right. Work his ass. I still can’t believe he was up at them people school selling the devil’s lettuce.”
I laughed so hard, I choked on my pretzel. “The devil’s lettuce, Nae?” I repeated.
“Yeah. That’s what it is.”
